RUMOR CONTROL: Is Chipotle Really Selling Burritos For $1 Next Week?

One of the United States’ biggest burrito and taco chains has been under fierce scrutiny over the past couple of months.

Chipotle received major backlash due to an unprecedented amount of sicknesses encountered by its consumers. An E. coli outbreak across a number of restaurants nationwide has caused federal investigations and lawsuits against the chain whose motto is “Food with Integrity.”

The negative headlines have effected the restaurant’s nationwide reputation. Sales have dropped by as much as 37 percent during this unforeseen controversy.

A rumor surfaced online early Saturday afternoon that Chipotle was going to sell burritos for $1 in order to gain the trust of consumers once again. The report in the Satira Tribune stated the following:

“Come by your local Chipotle this week and order any burrito for a dollar. As many as you can eat and we guarantee not one person will get sick,” Chipotle’s CEO and founder Steve Ells told Bloomberg Business News.

In the unprecedented move by a fast food restaurant, Chipotle wants to return to consumers main staple place to eat out after a few months of health safety concerns. An e-Coli outbreak closed dozens of stores in the Northwest and a norovirus contraction closed a busy store in Boston.

Hundreds were sickened over this time, but no one died. Store revenues have dropped as much as 30% during this time period and the stock price is around $450 a share from a high of $800 in July. Lawsuits are now in the works over potentially misleading the shareholders.

Analysts commend the incredible value offer for $1 burritos. Ted Olson, an analyst at Luck Stocks, said, “While they’ll lose a little money for a week, it could be the jump-start needed to get back on track the quickest way possible. It will get casual and heavy consumes back through the doors instantly instead of slowly waiting over the next three, four months to regain their trust.

Don’t believe the hype.

This story is not true. Pulsefeedz reached out to Chipotle to verify this story via their verified Twitter page and received the following response.

The publication where this story was posted also admits to being a satirical news site at the bottom of their homepage.

In Chipotle CEO Steve Ells’ last interview with Bloomberg, the CEO also makes no mention of burritos being priced at one dollar. Here is the only statement he made to the business news outlet regarding his company’s tumultuous times on January 6th.

The illnesses in California were caused by a employee who had the highly contagious virus but wasn’t sent home from work. Steve Ells, Chipotle’s co-chief executive officer, recently told Bloomberg News that the norovirus outbreaks in California and Boston involved breaches of protocol that were established in 2008 after the virus sickened 500 people near Kent State University in Ohio.

It should also be noted that the company mentioned in the article Luck Stocks does not exist. Ted Olson is a real person but does not do anything involving business. Olson was the former solicitor general (the federal government’s lawyer in Supreme Court cases) under the Bush administration and is currently a practicing attorney.

Unfortunately though, the story continues to go viral with over 3,000 retweets on Twitter.